


All Hallows Eve

by My_Alter_Ego



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Halloween Costumes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27280108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Alter_Ego/pseuds/My_Alter_Ego
Summary: My humble fictional story written for the holiday. Peter and Neal remember Halloweens from their childhoods.
Relationships: Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37





	All Hallows Eve

It was “All Hallows Eve” tonight, and June was hosting her annual Halloween party for the children from the surrounding group homes. For the occasion, the regal matron was dressed as Glinda the Good Witch from the classic movie, _The Wizard of Oz_. Elizabeth Burke was also present and had on a wig with a long braid of hair trailing down her back so that she resembled Rapunzel, the maiden in the tower awaiting rescue by her Prince Charming. In the meantime, El kept replenishing all the treats and apple cider she had brought for the kids, and couldn’t help giggling as she watched little ghosts and goblins bob for apples in a big, galvanized tub filled with water. El’s Prince Charming, however, was standing off to the side watching someone else in costume doing magic tricks. Neal, who had on a black tricorn hat, a long scabbarded sword hanging from his side, and shiny black boots on his feet, had an assistant, a short muslin-wrapped mummy that Peter reckoned must be Mozzie, if lack of stature was any clue.

Peter sauntered over to his CI. “So, Captain Morgan or Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow?” Peter sniped.

“Aw, Peter, do you even have to ask?” Neal grinned. “Where’s your costume?”

“I’m wearing it!” Peter snapped. “I’m an FBI Agent. See, I even have my badge displayed on my belt.”

“What you are, Peter, is a spoilsport who refuses to get in the spirit of things.” Neal mocked. “ _Spirit,_ Buddy—did you hear what I did there?”

Peter ignored his heckler and frowned, but it wasn’t long before he was reminiscing. “Halloween was a lot different when I was a kid. Back then, we went from house to house and collected our loot without our parents worried about our safety or whether someone had tampered with the candy that was doled out. The world has become a scarier place.”

Neal shrugged, catapulted back to his own childhood days in St. Louis. It hadn’t been a time of parties or make believe personas. His mother kept the house dark on Halloween because she never bought any treats, just as she never made or purchased any costumes for her only child. The next day at school, Neal’s classmates would bring in lunch boxes filled with sweets that had overflowed plastic Jack O’ Lanterns and pillowcases.

Just like always, a lonely child felt out of place. Just one time, he wanted to see what it was like to be given a reward simply for ringing a doorbell. So, when he was seven years old, he got creative, or as creative as a kid could get with literally no money or materials. He found a couple of large plastic bags in the recycling bin at a neighbor’s curb. It was probably part of the packaging discarded after shielding a few loads of dry cleaning. Neal filled the two bags with some dried leaves that had fallen from the deciduous trees in the school yard. Then, using duct tape, he connected them at the top, leaving just enough room for his head to poke through so that he was sandwiched in between. That night, he timidly went up to his first house after dark and rang the bell.

“My goodness, Sweetie, what are you supposed to be?” a smiling woman asked as she took in his unusual getup.

“I’m a Tetley Flow-thru Teabag, Ma’am,” Neal ducked his head while whispering in embarrassment.

Suddenly, the lady was laughing. “Well, little man, you are very ingenious and innovative. I have a feeling those clever attributes will take you far in the years to come. Don’t ever accept the mundane or the common place, kiddo. Just keep reaching for the stars.”

Neal wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but she actually gave him two goody bags filled with treats so he supposed it hadn’t been a put down. And, as his future unfurled, he had taken her advice and kept reaching for those stars.


End file.
